An Evening at the Beach

When the weather starts to heat up, I vow that this year I’m going to get to the beach every week. But I never seem to fulfill that promise and this summer was no different. In fact, this year we didn’t get to the beach until the beginning of August and it wasn’t even for a real beach day. We had our first family photoshoot in over a year at Wingaersheek Beach. 

While that may not seem like such a big deal when you take into account how quickly Arielle is growing up, we should really make more of an effort. But it really isn’t a lack of effort, it’s the lack of time. 

Time seems to be flying by so quickly. Didn’t I just find out I was pregnant? Wasn’t Arielle just born? Didn’t she just turn one? Now she’s two? Now she’s two and three months!

She seems to be learning new words not just by the day, but by the hour. She sings full songs. Every night when we sing our lullabies, she’ll sing with me. She dances all the time. She knows Madeline by heart. And in her mind, Mickey Mouse is the biggest celebrity in the world, competing only with Elmo, of course.

While she’s always had her own little personality, she is hysterical now. She has a real sense of humor and while we may not always understand her little jokes when she laughs at them, we all laugh because her little giggle is incredibly infectious. 

And she has an attitude now. Sometimes I think she isn’t just two, she’s a two-nager (not sure if I coined that or heard it somewhere but either way I believe it’s genius). But at the same time, she is so sweet. Her hugs are the best and she knows just when you need one the most. 

During our evening photo shoot, she just loved running through the water and for the first time she seemed to enjoy the feeling of sand between her toes. Then when we had to leave, she just got so emotional and starting saying, “Bye Beach! Bye bye, Beach!” in the saddest little voice you ever did hear. It all but broke my heart.

Now that I know how much she loves the beach, I have to make good on next year’s promise. We’ll get to the beach, maybe not every week, but as often as we can because we are going to make the time and I can’t wait.